LOWELL -- In a span of one year Connor Hellebuyck went from a goalie who couldn't get drafted by a junior team to a fifth-round draft pick by the NHL's Winnipeg Jets.

Renowned for its tornadoes, West Texas, it seems, can also spawn a whirlwind season for a hockey goalie.

After playing four years of Division 2 high school hockey at Walled Lake Northern in Commerce Township and the summer after his senior season in the Michigan Development Hockey League, Hellebuyck was hoping to get drafted by a junior team in either the prestigious U.S. League or the less-established North American League in 2011. He went unclaimed.

"I was playing high school hockey in Michigan, about an hour from Detroit, and there wasn't a lot of scouting going on there," Hellebuyck recalled.

"But Odessa somehow saw me in the MDHL. They called me (the day after the NAHL draft) and said they had a mini-camp and wanted me to come down and try out. I went down there, tried out, and made the team."

Hellebuyck forged a 26-21-5 record with a 2.49 average, .930 save percentage, and three shutouts for the Odessa Jackalopes and was named the NAHL's Co-Rookie of the Year and Co-Goaltender of the Year. Shortly after he was recruited by UMass Lowell, the lanky 6-4, 200-pound goaltender was the 130th pick overall in the NHL draft by the Jets.

"I wasn't focused on that," he said about the NHL draft. "I was focused on playing and taking the next step (to college).

Advertisement

But late in the year the (NHL) scouts started coming around and saying: 'Hey, we want to meet you.' You know they're in the stands, and that's a motivation to play well.

"So I knew there was a chance (of being drafted)," Hellebuyck continued. "It was kind of a surprise, though, because you never know if you will. I guess I was in the right place at the right time.

"That and a little luck and a little working hard."

By then Hellebuyck had already committed to UMass Lowell.

"(Assistant coach) Cam (Ellsworth) came down for a visit and sold the program really well," Hellebuyck said. "I thought it was a perfect fit, having a goalie coach (in Ellsworth) and a great coaching staff, the year they had last year, and what the future looked like for them."

While the NAHL doesn't yet have the elite reputation the rival USHL has, it's getting stronger with each passing year, and UMass Lowell head coach Norm Bazin and his staff have been vigorously scouting it.

"I'm not sure it's untapped, because everything is so exposed these days on the internet. There really are no more diamonds in the rough," Bazin said. "It's probably a misconception that if a player isn't playing in the USHL he isn't as good.

"Hellebuyck, (A.J.) White, (Adam) Chapie, and (Christian) Folin are all very capable Division I players," Bazin said of four of his freshmen this season, "and they all came from the North American League."

"A lot of kids get missed," Hellebuyck said. "But the North American League will give them that chance."

Folin, Chapie, and White have all made an immediate impact with the 16th-ranked River Hawks. But none more so than Hellebuyck, who didn't begin sharing goaltending duties on a regular basis with Hockey East Player of the Year runner-up Doug Carr until two months ago and since then has been named Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for December, twice named Rookie of the Week, and twice named Defensive Player of the Week.

After compiling a 3.23 average and .883 save percentage in his first three outings for the River Hawks, Hellebuyck posted back-to-back shutouts against Northeastern and Harvard and has compiled a stunning 0.80 average and .971 save percentage while winning six in a row.

Boasting a 1.54 average and .949 save percentage for the season, Hellebuyck suffered a minor injury in practice after beating Providence 2-1 in a nationally-televised game and then fell ill, keeping him out of the nets for the last three weeks.

"The guys around me work and battle for you, and that makes it easier on you," Hellebuyck said of his quick adjustment to Hockey East. "At times the game seems slower because guys are always in the right spot.

"But then it speeds up instantly. The change of pace is the biggest difference," he said, comparing Division I hockey and junior hockey.

"Ideally, you want to have a junior and a freshman goalie," Bazin said. "The thought process was to give (Hellebuyck) at least eight games and then see how many more he deserves, and that's the way it's gone so far.

"I'm happy he's had a little bit of success," the coach added. "But the proof for me will be the consistency he shows over a couple of years, and then I'll know what we have."

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.